(This is part 1 of a 2-part story on the new off-limits rule for the FLW Tour, which begins in 2008. Part 1 focuses on those pros who like it, while part 2 features some who don't.)

Up through this season, the FLW Tour had always permitted an open practice period. There were no restrictions on how long pros or co-anglers could practice on a tournament lake, nor who they could talk to for information. A good number of pros therefore spent 2 or 3 weeks – or even longer – practicing before a tournament, often with several different local experts.



That's all about to change. Starting with the 2008 season, the FLW Tour will implement a new 12-day off-limits for tournament waters, with an expanded no-information rule to go along with it. Many of the pros are in favor of the change, while some are dead-set against it. A fair number don't care either way.

What's Different?

A quick run-down of the changes follows. Note that for clarity, Rule 4 is broken down into two portions.

  • 2007 Rule 4 – Pretournament Practice (first portion): "There will be no official practice period or off-limits period prior to the Wednesday of registration and pretournament meeting. However, no contestant may be on tournament waters for the purpose of locating fish or potential fishing waters after 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the Wednesday of registration and pretournament meeting except during tournament hours."

  • 2008 Rule 4 – Off-Limits, Practice, Competition (first portion): 'Tournament waters will go off-limits to all contestants 12 days prior to the first practice day in all events. Contestants, including those on the waiting list and late entries, may not enter tournament waters to fish, test equipment, sightsee, etc., during the off-limits period. Flights over tournament waters are not permitted during the off-limits period."

  • 2007 Rule 4 (second portion): "After the balance deadline date for each tournament and during competition days, contestants, including those on the waiting lists and late entries, may not solicit and/or receive fishing information from any non-competitor other than publicly available information. The purchasing of information or the hiring of services will not be permitted after the balance deadline for each tournament."

  • 2008 Rule 4 (second portion): "During the off-limits period, practice and competition days, contestants may not solicit and/or receive fishing information from anyone except confirmed tournament anglers (anglers on the waiting list are not confirmed tournament anglers) and other publicly available information. The purchasing of, or bartering for, information or the hiring of services (including fly-overs) will not be permitted after the start of the off-limits. The sharing of tournament winnings in exchange for fishing information is strictly prohibited. Tournament waters will reopen for practice 4 days (Saturday through Tuesday) prior to registration day. Pros may practice alone, with another competitor, with a member of their immediate family (mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, grandchild or spouse) or with approved sponsor representatives who have also observed the off-limits period and procedures or with approved media representatives. Co-anglers may practice only with confirmed pros. (With the consent of the pro, co-anglers can be joined by a member of their immediate family as defined above). Tournament waters will be closed to all contestants on Wednesday (registration day) prior to the first day of competition. Anglers in the Top 10 cut (days 3 and 4) may not solicit or receive fishing information from anyone except other Top 10 anglers."

    Here are thoughts from some of the pros who like the change.

    Herren Likes Less Pressure

    Alabama FLW Tour and Series pro Matt Herren is among those in favor of the off-limits. "I like it," he said. "The biggest thing is, with the big field, it'll take some of the pressure off these fish. With the coliseum weigh-ins these days, it puts us on pressured fisheries anyway (so the event can be held) near the big facilities.

    "Then a lot of fish get stuck (and become lure-shy) with this large 200-boat field in a long practice, so this (off-limits period) should help the fishing. It'll relieve some pressure on the fish. It may help open up some pattern fishing, but really the field is too big to allow that on most fisheries anyway, so it's not a big help on that."

    A short practice won't crimp his style either.

    "If I've never been to a lake I might have used 5 or 6 days to practice, but usually just 3 or 4 days," he noted. "The FLW Series has an off-limits, and look at my points finish there." (He's 7th in the FLW Series Eastern division with one event to go, and was 25th in 2006 – Ed.)

    Blaukat Thrilled

    Missouri pro Randy Blaukat was just as happy with the no-information rule as with the off-limits rule. "I'm thrilled to death with it," he said. "Some of us have been working hard to get that changed for years. It will level the playing field. I'd guess about 50% of the (FLW Tour) anglers were pushing hard for it. Then there were around 25% that are noncommittal, but 25% are against it. Those are the ones who've built careers on local information and marathon practices.

    "The 4-day (official) practice is great," he added, "And the 1 day off before the tournament starts is excellent. That will let the fish rest and recover and bite a little better the first day.

    "Overall I think it's good for the fish, and good for the fishermen. The weights should be better and we can maybe get to do some power-fishing again instead of using shakey-heads the whole time."

    Scheide Satisfied

    Arkansas pro Ray Scheide also looks forward to improved fishing.

    "I like the off-limits," he said. "There are several positive things about it: The lake should fish better, it should make for better TV shows, and no longer will primary and secondary patterns be so beat to death by the time the tournament starts. We won't have to fish a shakey-head so much.

    "But the no-information rule is kind of a double-edged sword," he added. "I like that you have to fish for the fish you find yourself, and it would be great if everybody would do it, but the rule is hard to enforce. Still, I like it and hopefully everybody will (play along)."

    Also notable was Scheide's remark about waypoints. "There are very few instances where information helps much anyway, but it does when someone is getting a GPS waypoint on Lake Erie or places where spots (vs. patterns or areas) are key."

    Grigsby Grinning

    Michigan pro Chad Grigsby said of the rules change: "I like it a lot. I voted for it. The rule passed, so I'm in the majority. It's great that FLW listens to their fishermen. (With the off-limits period), the fish won't get hammered as much, and the weigh-ins will be better. I never get info anyway so that part doesn't affect me."

    Lefebre, Gagliardi in Agreement

    Pennsylvanian Dave Lefebre's another who's happy about the change. "I like it," he said. "I like everything about it. My main concern is that it's hard to enforce, especially the no-information thing, but there's nothing you can do about that. They just need to be stern and they need to set the boundaries and be tough about it. It's a step in the right direction."

    Lefebre said South Carolina pro Anthony Gagliardi was nodding his head in agreement in the background.

    Moore Wants More

    Alabama pro Andre Moore spoke vehemently in favor of the off-limits. "I like it, and I wish it was longer," he said. "A month would be better. I've got a business to run and a life other than fishing, and I'm tired of these (guys) spending weeks on the water and making it hard for everybody."

    Clausen Expects Surprises

    Luke Clausen has won only two tour-level tournaments: The Bassmaster Classic and the 2004 FLW Tour Championship (now Forrest Wood Cup). He's been exclusively FLW since his 2006 Classic win, and made an interesting prediction about one effect of the new off-limits rule.

    "I'm excited about the new rule," he said. "It's something I've wanted for several years. I think it levels the playing field – not for the matter of people practicing that much, but because they catch less fish and change the fishery. It's kind of like playing football but moving the lines on the field – the whole environment is different.

    "That many fish being caught over that period of time changes the whole lake and the way the lake reacts to a tournament going on. I believe having less practice in general will result in more and bigger fish being caught in the tournament. It will make it easier to fish a pattern, rather than a lot of these obscure spots that are being found.

    "As long as things haven't been skewed by too much fishing pressure so that you can run or adapt to changes, I think there's definitely the possibility and the opportunity for pattern fishing, especially with the size of fisheries we usually go to," he added.

    He wasn't known for long practices anyway, so the limited practice suits him fine.

    Now for the prediction: "I think the guys who think they weren't going to catch them or didn't like the off-limits are going to go out and do a lot better (than they expect)," he said. "They'll find out (with a 4-day practice) that they'll prevent themselves from making the mistakes they made in the past and actually do better."

    Notable

    > Clausen thinks there's only one downside to the off-limits: "The only thing that may suffer is the campgrounds and such, since they won't have all those guys staying for 2 or 3 weeks."

    > Blaukat wants even stronger off-limits rules. "I'd like it even stricter," he said. "I'd like a 60-day off-limits and no information for 6 months."

    – End of part 1 (of 2) –